Mongol invasions of Georgia

The Mongol invasions of Georgia occurred from 1220 to 1243 when the Mongol Empire invaded Georgia and forced the King of Georgia to submit to Mongol rule.

Background
After Mongol generals Subedei and Jebe and their 20,000 troops failed to catch up to the Shah of Khwarezm in 1220, they spent the winter of that year in Iran and Azerbaijan, raiding and looting while preventing the western Khwarezmian forces from assisting the Shah's son in the east. There, they decided to undertake the most audacious reconnaissance-in-force in history.

War
In 1221, the Mongols first entered Georgia, where they pillaged the countryside for supplies. The King, George IV of Georgia, assembled an army which included many knights who had pledged to join the Fith Crusade. The two armies met at the Battle of Sagimi, where the Mongols drew away the heavily-armored knights away from their infantry and massacred them. The Mongols then returned to Iran and Azerbaijan and pillaged more cities before returning to Georgia in 1221. George attempted to stop the invaders near Tbilisi, but his army was ambushed yet again. Georgia was weakened by several battles, and the Mongols were able to pass through the Caucasus mountains. In 1223, Subedei faced a coalition of Lezgins, Volga Bulgars, Yuri, and Alans, and he bribed the Kipchaks to desert the army before defeating the remainder. Subedei then pursued the retreating Kipchaks, who were slowed by the baggage train carrying the Mongols' gifts, and Subedei defeated them before razing the wealthy city of Astrakhan on the Volga River. Subedei and Jebe then continued north to invade the Kievan Rus, and, in 1236, the Mongols conquered Georgia, the Sultanate of Rum, and the Empire of Trebizond before forcing the Kingdom of Cilicia and the Crusader states to voluntarily accept Mongol vassalage. In 1243, Georgia acknowledged the Great Khan as its overlord, and Georgia remained under Mongol rule until the late 1330s.